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Trial ends in Oahu shooting spree case; decision in hands of jury

By: Lara Yamada

Published On: May 14 2013 06:23:00 PM HST

HONOLULU -

"And after he shot at her, he says he doesn't know why, he fired again and again and again," said Honolulu prosecutor Dwight Nadamoto, who repeated himself nine times in his closing remarks, emphasizing the number of shots fired at Tammy Nguyen, a mother of 10.

Her 16-year-old daughter Cindy was sitting next to her that night, witnessing it all.

"I just crunched down to the floor and ducked down and then I saw my mom jerk back and her head slowly fell," said Cindy, holding back in tears during the start of Toby Stangel's murder trial.

"I heard bap, bap, bap! Then I was like, 'whoa, what's going on?" said Apelu Patu, who was also shot that night on June 3rd, 2011.

Stangel admitted he was the gunman who killed one woman and injured two others in a 17-minute shooting spree that stretched from Kaimuki to Aiea, but he maintained was out of his mind, doped up on drugs and alcohol.

That would be the defense his attorney would hold to, to the very end.

"The state wants you to believe Toby had intended to kill by those that confronted him that night. If you had actual evidence of his state of mind, that he was mad at someone or something, you would have something to go on," said Stangel's attorney John Schum.

"Cindy Nguyen does not know why he shot at her mom. She does not know why it happened. She only knows that her mom is now dead," said Nadamoto.

It's been a week-long trial, with numerous witnesses, experts and victims taking the stand.

For Toby Stangel, he chose not to take the stand, in front of eight men and four women who now hold his fate in their hands.

Stangel has been charged with eight counts of murder and attempted murder along with several counts of firearms and drug charges.

He faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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